Baño de Luna (Bathing in the Moonlight) by Nilo Cruz

Truth. It speaks to all of us and we know it when we feel it. Inescapable and undeniable truth. Theatre brings out the human condition, yes. But it does so revealing truths that are difficult, if not impossible, to deny. Personally connecting with those truths unlocks compartments of the soul that, sometimes, we never knew we never knew. Such is the case with Nilo Cruz’s new work “Baño de Luna”, set in the U.S., but among Cuban exhiles. For me, the play seemed like a tango between the 1984 movie Camila and a play about the struggles of exhiles in the US adapting or not adapting, to a new way of life. The story of a priest falling in love is nothing new. It’s a subject matter that, quite frankly, is sort of cliché. The idea of exhiles, and Cuban exhiles, at that, has been a topic of discussion in South Florida, at least, since the first half of the 20th century. So, for me the play itself wasn’t something I considered very fresh, but there were moments when the play did resonant with current social vibes and offered commentary for further consideration.

Flyer for the Production by Arca Images

            This Miami premiere occured in the Black Box Theater at the Miami-Dade County Auditorium. I’m learning that this venue is very fruitful for latino and latin-american theater within Miami. Both domestic and international pieces of theater occur here. It’s a versatile space. Nilo Cruz straddles his residence between Miami and New York, so it was a treat to have this new production in Miami. The world premiere occured in the McCarter Theater in New Jersey, and won the Greenfield Award in 2016.

Nilo Cruz, the playwright. Photo Credit: Difusión

The acting choices and directing were clear except for the interaction between Martina, Marcela’s mother, and Taviano, who it appeared played her former spouse. When Taviano appears after a long stay at the university, his mother confuses him with her late husband. However, when Taviano appears later, all dressed in white, and acts like the former husband, he cannot kiss her. It looked as if Taviano was playing the role of his late father for his mother, and that’s why he couldn’t kiss her. That would be like the game going a bit too far. But then later  (SPOILER) he appears and takes Martina with him to live in the great beyond. So, because Taviano looked so similar to his father, they used him again, dressed all in white, to be the late father and husband. It was clear by the end,, but it was not clear the first time he appeared on stage. Other than that, though, the acting was superb. Really. The matriarch of the family, Martinela, is played by Teresa María Rojas who has been described as “una leyenda del teatro en Miami” (“El Nuveo Herald”). It was a treat to see her before she bids adieu once and for all to the limelight.

Elenco de ‘Baño de luna’: (desde la izq.) Carlos Acosta Milián, Joel Hernández Lara, Ariel Texidó, Teresa María Rojas, Andrea Ferro, Claudia Valdés, el autor y director Nilo Cruz y la productora Alexa Kuve. PEDRO PORTAL pportal@elnuevoherald.com

Two scenes left an indelible impression on me. To give my reader some context, Father Monroe has fallen in love with Marcela, one of the members of his congregation. This is the underlying plot for the play. Their precipitous love was sparked when Marcela decides to practice the piano at church. Marcela had a piano, but the family decided to sell it in order to, among other things, keep up appearances, as well as pay for her younger brother’s, Taviano, college education. It is during one of these practice sessions that, in another location within the church, Father Monroe and Father Alberto discuss Monroe’s vertiginous feelings toward Marcela. The background music of the piano kept Marcela’s presence so palpable during this scene. Father Monroe asks Father Alberto, his superior, if, as celibate clergy, they might have distanced themselves too much from the nature of their composition as men. Personally, I agreed with Father Monroe, but, much to my surprise—and delight—Father Alberto took advantage of the current situation and asked Father Monroe to hear the slow, methodic piano music coming from Marcela. He then asks, “Isn’t music far removed from our nature?” Yet it is the same music that enveloped Father Monroe into an enraptured state of desperate love for Marcela. Both Monroe and Alberto had valid perspectives. Carnal nature of man and the edifying nature of the arts and religion were put in clarifying juxtaposition. Yet for Father Monroe, both sides pulled him toward Marcela. I was truly thankful for that surprising, honest, and conflicting argument. I’ve heard an interpretation of Nilo Cruz’s plays as placing the arts as having some sort of redemptive power. I can see this soundly in Baño de Luna from the previously described scene, as well as understanding how music is what provoked Father Monroe’s journey with Marcela.

Marcela and Father Monroe. Photo Credit: Álvaro Mata

The second thought that underlined the play was the idea of expanding our borders, if not entirely destroying them. Father Monroe, a self-declared progressive clergyman, sermonizes at the beginning of the play about extending borders to include others is needed if the church is to stay relevant. He refers to a passage in the New Testament wherein Christ remarks: “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2). Father Monroe’s take on that passage of scripture was that there is plenty of room for all in Heaven. Therefore, to emulate the way Heaven treats its citizens, fellow congregation members should also allow spaces to exist for all around them as well. At the end of the play, this theme returns in full force as Marcela consoles Father Monroe in their new relationship. She says that he may have lost a place in the house of God, but he will always find a place at their home. In short, she put into practice the very same words Father Monroe preached at the beginning of the play. Thus, everything comes back full circle.

Overall the play was a treat—one of those treats that you’ve had time and again. It may get old, but sometimes you just can’t quit it. Crunch. Crunch.